Sacramento fans show their support during the pre-season friendly match between Sacramento Republic and Sunderland

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Newcastle United's game with Sacramento Republic will be a sell-out on Saturday night.

The Californian club are still very much on a high after beating Newcastle’s North-East rivals Sunderland at Bonney Field earlier this week.

But the game failed to capture the imagination of the Sacramento public and the stadium was only half full.

Local paper the Sacramento Bee reported: “The match, won on Cameron Iwasa’s 58th-minute goal, was played in a stadium that was only half full (5,700), a shocker for a team that has sold out almost all of its matches at the 11,442-seat Cal Expo facility.”

And Republic chiefs slashed ticket prices for Sunderland’s match with Mexican side Club De Football Pachuca on Friday night to just $14 dollars after low sales.

The Bee also pointed out: "Sacramento’s match against Newcastle and its 4-1 loss to Liga MX side Atlas FC on July 8, which drew an announced crowd of 10,419, are part of Republic FC’s season-ticket package, but the others (including a poorly attended June 27 matchup of Liga MX sides Toluca FC and Pumas UMAS) are not, a big reason for the smaller turnouts."

Republic president Warren Smith said: “Sunderland had talked to us early, then appeared to be headed to Africa.

“They came back to us after we added Newcastle, but they also needed a second match (Sunderland-Pachuca).